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Based on a true story, this stylishly produced British drama centres around two superbly involving characters whose real-life journey doesn't fit neatly into the usual formula. So the film continually surprises us with little details as it recounts a series of events over the course of about three years. Director Paul McGuigan (Sherlock) and writer Matt Greenhalgh (Nowhere Boy) cleverly keep the tone light with big emotional moments all along the way. And it's also a fascinating look at one of Hollywood's more uncomfortable truths.

It opens in 1981 Liverpool, when Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) collapses while preparing to perform in a play. In need of a place to recuperate, she reaches out to her much younger ex Peter (Jamie Bell), and asks to move in with his parents (Julie Walters and Kenneth Cranham). Seeing Gloria again, Peter takes a trip through his memories of their romance over the previous three years. They met in London when he was an aspiring actor, and he followed her to New York and Los Angeles before their relationship hit the rocks. He always wondered why she dumped him, but now he's starting to understand.

The way the flashbacks are woven into the main narrative is ingenious, as Peter literally walks into the past. This offers some powerful glimpses of the interconnections between them. It's not quite so necessary to eventually cut to Gloria's side of the story, although at least that offers a strikingly emotional final piece to the puzzle. Bening enjoyably makes Gloria a vain diva whose underlying insecurity makes her very likeable. Since she refuses to act her age, the gap between her and Peter never feels like an issue. And Bening develops terrific chemistry with Bell, who brings a beautifully understated rawness to Peter that's strikingly truthful. Bell gives a riveting performance that's never remotely obvious. And it's also terrific to see him reunite with Walters 17 years after Billy Elliot.

For his latest adventure, James Bond mixes the personal drama of Skyfall with the vintage globe-hopping action of the previous 23 movies. The result is an epic thriller packed with exhilarating set-pieces and dark surprises. Again directed by Sam Mendes, the film has a meaty tone from the astounding pre-titles sequence in Mexico City to the climax in North African. And it takes its time to build the suspense, mystery and drama in ways few blockbusters bother to do.

After the calamitous events at Skyfall, Bond (Daniel Craig) has gone rogue, following a videotaped message from his late boss (Judi Dench) to track a villain to Mexico, then continuing to Rome, where he woos the grieving widow (Monica Bellucci). Pursued by relentless goon Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista), he travels onward to Austria, he confronts an old nemesis (Jesper Christiansen), whose daughter Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) joins Bond to travel to Morocco to face the shady top boss Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) in his secret lair. Meanwhile in London, the new M (Ralph Fiennes) is fighting to to keep MI6 in operation as new boss C (Andrew Scott) works to restructure British security as part of a global conglomerate.

Mendes stages this on a massive scale, with huge action sequences that are never rushed or choppy, beautifully shot by ace cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. And it's all underpinned by darker personal drama between the characters, so every sequence features thoughtful conversation, witty banter, more clues to the larger mystery and then thrilling action. And as 007 hops from location to location filling in the bigger picture, the film feels like all of the classic Bond movies rolled into one.

Rumour has it that the new Sam Mendes-directed James Bond film will be based on a Sebastian Faulks 007 novel 'Devil May Care.'

The Sun's Bizarre has reported that the new James Bond movie, and follow-on from this year's enormously successful Skyfall, will be titled Devil May Care after Sebastian Faulk's 2008 novel which was written to celebrate a century since Bond creator IAN FLEMING's 1908 birth. Sam Mendes, after originally saying he wouldn't return to direct the 24th Bond film, has been confirmed as the director to the Skyfall sequel.

Like Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig Will Also Return For The 24th Bond Movie.

Although no title has been confirmed yet, Daniel Craig is expected to return as the titular Bond for the fourth time, despite the next film rumoured to be the 45 year-old actor's last after Skyfall showed the spy aging in an increasingly technological world. Bond fans shouldn't hold their breath for the next instalment of 007 adventures - due to Mendes' theatre commitments the as-yet untitled 24th Bond film will be released in late 2015. There's no wonder that producer's were happy to accommodate Mendes' other plans into the timeframe for the next film: 2012's Skyfall was the most successful Bond to date, making £720 million ($1.1 billion) worldwide, winning two Oscars and being named 'Outstanding British Film' by BAFTA.

James Bond fans received the news they’d be waiting for on Thursday – Sam Mendes would be returning for the twenty-fourth 007 movie, following the huge success of Skyfall.

Given his theatre commitments, it was assumed that the Oscar-winning director would be unable to helm the follow-up to the biggest grossing British movie in history – though he appears to have found a gap in his schedule to direct the next Bond for an October 23, 2015 release date.

Daniel Craig – often considered the finest Bond actor in history – had delayed his decision to return for his fourth movie, though the return of Mendes will see him don the tuxedo once again.

Sam Mendes will be directing Daniel Craig in the next James Bond film. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli confirmed his position on Thursday (11th July). The 24th Bond film will released in 2015.

Director Sam Mendes will be directing the next James Bond movie. The film is due to be released in 2015. The Skyfall director will work with Daniel Craig, who will be reprising his role as the secret agent. The writer of the previous film, John Logan, will also return to write the next script.

The dates for release have already been confirmed. UK cinema goers will be able to see the film two weeks earlier than their American counterparts. The UK release date is set for 23rd October 2015 and the US for 6th November.

Some speculation has suggested Craig would follow Mendes out of the door, with Idris Elba coming in as a replacement, though it now appears the high profile duo are back for a new movie. According to Deadline.com, Mendes and the producers got back in touch recently and agreed that the director could work through his theatre commitments before starting production on the new Bond film next year.

It will be great news for fans of Daniel Craig as Bond. Since his first outing in Casino Royale, the British star has played a more vulnerable version of the ruthless agent, even appearing physically incapable of the job in some segments of Skyfall. The change of direction for the character has led to the often tongue-in-cheek overly sexualised franchise developing into an intelligent spy story with action, humor and crisp cinematography.

Daniel Craig's third outing as James Bond in Skyfall has been lauded, as has the film itself, by fans and critics alike. But perhaps the unsung hero in the Bond film, is, ironically, the villain. "We've always said, any Bond film is only as good as the villain," explained producer Barbara Broccoli.

Javier Bardem's version of the Bond Villain - the 23rd of its kind in cinematic form - is excellent. He's gone from tear-jerking (and we mean tear-jerking) roles in Biutiful, to silent killer in No Country For Old Men, and the alchemy of the two: enigmatic and heartfelt, are facets of his performance in Skyfall that have lead to people calling him the best Bond Villain ever. "The guy is really, really confident about himself in a weird way. He definitely thinks he's the most beautiful man in the world," Bardem tells USA Today. "You have to work on two different levels," he adds. "One is to make him as real as possible. And the other is to fly a little bit higher than the rest of the characters. You are allowed to do that. Because that is what people are expecting to see when you play a Bond villain, especially since the films are turning 50 years."

America get their IMAX taste of Bond tomorrow (Nov 8th), with the general release happening the day after.

Things get very personal for 007 in this high-quality thriller, which keeps us gripped even if it never gets our pulses racing. This shouldn't be surprising, since the director is Sam Mendes, known for more dramatic movies like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road. And he gives the film a deep gravitas that we're not used to in the Bond franchise, as well as coaxing the cast to darkly introspective performances.

That's not to say the action is lacklustre. The opening sequence in Istanbul is a riotous chase through the city streets, across the rooftops and onto a train rocketing through a mountainous landscape. At the end of this, Bond (Craig) is presumed dead while the baddie gets away with a list of Western spies. As he starts releasing names publicly, things get difficult for MI6 boss M (Dench), who is pressured to resign by a government minister (Fiennes). So when Bond returns, M puts him on the case, sending him to Shanghai, where he stalks a mysterious woman (Marlohe) to Macau and meets the camp villain Silva (Bardem). Back in Britain, Silva leads Bond and M on a nasty cat-and-mouse chase that ends up at Skyfall, Bond's ancestral home in the Highlands.

Unlike the usual Bond baddie, Silva isn't remotely interested in global domination or incredible wealth: he has a very personal score to settle, which means that there's no ticking time-bomb underneath the action. In other words, Bond is fighting to save his life, not the planet. Which makes the film feel oddly smaller than we expect. On the other hand, this also allows the filmmakers and actors to develop the relationships more intriguingly than usual. Most notable is the close connection between Bond and M, played with with edgy subtlety by Craig and Dench while Bardem steals every scene with his witty innuendo.

Other characters are strong as well, including Harris as Bond's spy colleague, Whishaw as the clever gadget-geek Q, and an almost unrecognisable Finney as Bond's oldest friend. And Marlohe stirs in the only hint of sex and mystery. Each adds life and energy to the film, as does a continual stream of references to 50 years of Bond movies. Some of these are subtle (a 1962 Scotch) while others get a laugh (that iconic Aston Martin DB5). And along the way, Mendes laces the personal drama with political intrigue and some spectacularly staged action scenes. It's consistently entertaining, even if it's dark and thoughtful rather than exhilarating and fun.

Assembled in the style of a Bond film, this lively doc is an entertaining race through 50 years of the 007 franchise. The fast-paced narrative skips over a few things here and there, but focusses nicely on the relationships that have sustained the films over the decades even when it looked like it was about to fall apart.

James Bond was created as a bit of wish-fulfilment for author Ian Fleming, a reaction to his desk-bound job in intelligence during WWII. After the Cold War sparked interest in the novels, the film rights were sold to producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. To make the first movie, 1962's Dr No, they broke every rule in the book, casting an unknown Scottish actor as Bond and redesigning the look and feel of spy movies from the ground up. Of course, it was a sensation, sparking the longest-running movie franchise of all time. Although it certainly hasn't been a smooth ride.

The central focus here is on the bromance between Cubby and Harry, which has lingered into the next generation. Today, Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother Michael Wilson keep the films current, relevant and faithful to Fleming's original creation, which is a tricky balancing act. In this documentary, we get lucid first-hand accounts of the crises that nearly sank the franchise, including the panic of Connery's decision to leave the role, the legal wranglings around Thunderball (and its unofficial remake Never Say Never Again) and Brosnan's first false start as Bond. And then there were the world-changing events of 9/11, which spurred the producers to completely reinvent Bond as a grittier, more emotionally resonant figure.